The Fully Air-Conditioned Sound of Speed

A Philtranco bus in Megamall will be taking us to the Clark airfield where the Air Asia flight to Malaysia will take off. While waiting for the bus, we had lunch at an Asian restaurant in Megamall called Lemon Gras. I think I dipped my grilled prawns and pork with too much hoi sin and chili, it caused my heart to race, beating six times in a second. I could have sworn my whole life flashed before my eyes and scarcely survived a heart attack. Or maybe it was just plain pre-flight jitters. Even in the lane by the parking lot where we waited, I vomited around six times, imagining both the perils that may prevail and the many many strides of happiness we are to stumble upon in the trip. I was too positively thrilled I had to publicly puke my guts out.

The bus ride to Clark was an unexpected relief, despite the fact that the bus arrived 30 minutes late, despite the noon’s nearly 37 degree Celsius heat over Edsa, the maddening kind of heat which could just empty the sanity left out of anyone. The North Expressway’s roads have already been widened, and drive was quick and smooth. D. and I shared the iPod to give it all a fitting soundtrack: Eliot Smith, Hed Kandi’s latest Winter Chill, Chicane, a lot of Chillout and Alternative. We sing along to Kent’s 747: “So this is all we need. The fully air conditioned sound of speed. A violent whisper. And this time it's for real. So this day I made plans for us to leave.”


The Clark airport is something like the Kalibo airport, with slightly noticeable improvements such as an LED light display announcing “now boarding” on its check-in counters (which wouldn’t exactly be the technology that can make you go “hu-wow”). I didn’t even notice any runway lights for evening flights. But then, this isn’t forlornly bad considering how much it cost us. I’m even elated since it easily turned out to be trouble-free. Instead of asking us about the purpose of our travel, the Philippine immigration officer even advised D. not to look for jobs in Malaysia, but to look for jobs in nearby Singapore since the career prospects there could be more promising.